The present invention relates to a method of and a system for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method of and a system for manufacturing a semiconductor device in which inspection is followed by re-processing.
FIG. 10 is a manufacturing step diagram for a conventional semiconductor device. These manufacturing steps are used to form side walls 45 as those shown in FIG. 4, for example. Now, steps of forming the side walls 45 will be described with reference to FIG. 4.
First, at a step 101, pre-processing for depositing an insulation film 43 is executed so as to cover a semiconductor substrate 41 and a gate electrode 42 formed on the semiconductor substrate 41.
Next, at a step 102, a film thickness of the insulation film 43 is measured. At a step 103, a condition for a step 104 is set up based on a result of the measurement at the step 102.
Next, at the step 104, post-processing is executed, in which the insulation film 43 is etched back in accordance with an etching condition determined at the step 103 and the side walls 45 are consequently formed on the both sides of the gate electrode 42.
Next, at a step 105, widths of the side walls 45 are measured and whether the widths comply with a predetermined standard is inspected.
Next, at a step 106, whether a result of the inspection at the step 105 complies with a predetermined standard is judged. If compliance with the standard is found, the sequence proceeds to a step 107 for commercialization. On the other hand, if there is not compliance with the standard, the sequence proceeds to a step 108 for discarding.
However, discarding semiconductor substrates despite slight incompliance of the result of the inspection at the step 105 prevents an improvement to a production yield and makes it difficult to reduce production costs.
Noting this, the present invention aims at providing a method of and a system for manufacturing a semiconductor device which re-process a semiconductor substrate failing to comply with a predetermined standard to comply with the standard, and thereby improve a production yield.
The present invention is directed to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device in which a semiconductor substrate is subjected to processing includes pre-processing and post-processing, comprising: a pre-processing step to process a semiconductor substrate; a measurement step to measure a characteristic of the semiconductor substrate processed at the pre-processing step; a setup step to set a processing condition for post-processing based on a result of the measurement at the measurement step; a post-processing step to process the semiconductor substrate using the processing condition; and an inspection step to inspect a characteristic of the semiconductor substrate processed at the post-processing step and to judge whether compliance with a predetermined standard is found or not, and characterized in further comprising re-processing step to re-process the semiconductor substrate judged not complying with the standard at the inspection step such that the semiconductor substrate complies with the standard.
Using this manufacturing method, a semiconductor substrate judged not complying with a predetermined standard during inspection after the processing step is re-processed so as to comply with the standard. This makes it possible to improve a production yield of semiconductor devices. Further, this makes it possible to reduce production costs.
A processing condition for the re-processing step is determined based on a result of the inspection at the inspection step.
The re-processing step may be one step selected from a group including the pre-processing step and the post-processing step.
This is because executing either the pre-processing step or the post-processing step sometimes allows a characteristic of a semiconductor substrate to comply with a predetermined standard.
The re-processing step may include the pre-processing step, the measurement step, the setup step and the post-processing step.
This is because executing these steps sometimes allows a characteristic of a semiconductor substrate to comply with a predetermined standard.
It is preferable that the pre-processing step is a step at which an insulation film is deposited on the semiconductor substrate, and the post-processing step is a step at which the insulation film is etched using an etching condition determined from a measurement result regarding a film thickness of the insulation film.
This is because executing these steps makes it possible to form a side wall, an inter-layer insulation film or the like.
It is preferable that the pre-processing step is a step at which a field oxide film is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and the post-processing step is a step at which the field oxide film is etched using an etching condition determined based on a measurement result regarding at least one dimension selected between a film thickness of the field oxide film and a width of an active layer region sandwiched by the field oxide film, from a table showing a relationship between the width of the active layer region and an etching quantity of the field oxide film such that the width of the active layer region has a predetermined dimension.
The measurement step is preferably a step to measure one dimension selected between a film thickness and a width of a predetermined portion of the semiconductor substrate.
The present invention is also directed to a manufacturing system for semiconductor device including a pre-processing apparatus and a post-processing apparatus, comprising: a pre-processing apparatus to perform pre-processing on a semiconductor substrate; a measurement apparatus to measure a characteristic of the semiconductor substrate processed by the pre-processing; a setup apparatus to set a processing condition for post-processing based on a result of the measurement performed by the measurement apparatus; a post-processing apparatus to perform post-processing on the semiconductor substrate using the processing condition; an inspection apparatus to inspect a characteristic of the semiconductor substrate processed by the post-processing; and an evaluation apparatus to judge whether a result of the inspection by the inspection apparatus complies with a predetermined standard or not, and further characterized in that said pre-processing apparatus and/or the post-processing apparatus re-process(es) the semiconductor substrate judged not complying with the standard by the evaluation apparatus such that the semiconductor substrate complies with the standard.
The present invention may also include a re-processing condition setup apparatus which sets a re-processing condition for said pre-processing apparatus and/or the post-processing apparatus based on the result of the inspection by the inspection apparatus.
It is preferable that said pre-processing apparatus is a deposition apparatus and the post-processing apparatus is an etching apparatus.
It is preferable that the measurement apparatus is an apparatus which measures one dimension selected between a film thickness and a width of a predetermined portion of the semiconductor substrate.
As clearly described above, the manufacturing method according to the present invention requires to re-process a semiconductor substrate judged not complying with a predetermined standard during inspection after processing, and therefore, makes it possible to ensure compliance with the standard.
This allows improving a production yield of semiconductor devices, and hence, reduces production costs.